thedoctor Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 ea81 runs strong and stays cool, yet there is a massive leak of coolant into the oil pan somehow. I have to add about a liter every couple hundred miles, and my dip stick shows a couple liters above the mark. White smoke on start up. What are the possibilities besides head gasket? If it were a head gasket, how can the performance be this good? Wouldn't it dog down? Wouldn't it overheat? Starts and runs perfectly. Could it be intake manifold gasket? There is no oil at all in the radiator. The coolant is clear. I will try to pressurize the cylinders and also take compression readings tomorrow. But I can't imagine seeing bubbles in the radiator if there is no oil in the radiator now. To me it seems there is already enough information to make an educated guess. I would like to read some guesses and case studies on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Intake manifold gasket is my guess. Rip off that carb and check it. What carb are your running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'm have a Carter-Weber single barrel carb. I bought another engine at the junk yard. It has a hitachi carb and I have been thinking of swapping intake manifolds and getting hold of a Weber carb. If this leak is intake manifold, this might be the time to do it. What do I look for when I open it up? Will a bad gasket be obvious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I'm have a Carter-Weber single barrel carb. I bought another engine at the junk yard. It has a hitachi carb and I have been thinking of swapping intake manifolds and getting hold of a Weber carb. If this leak is intake manifold, this might be the time to do it. What do I look for when I open it up? Will a bad gasket be obvious? To my knowledge yes it should be quite obvious. I am not an ea81 guy but if it is anything like the ea82 which pumps coolant up there then yes it will be obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 This is the kind fo thing you might expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Thank you, Dirk. Incredibly helpful photos. I'll post some of my own soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Isn't there also some pipe plugs in the heads under the valve cover that go into the cooling jacket? If they started leaking coolant would run directly into the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 It would have been nice, but my intake manifold gaskets looked pretty good. I didn't take any photos, but there is little reason to think my coolant is leaking into the oil pan by way of the intake manifold. Head gaskets are certainly on the table, but what else is there? Cracked block? Plan is to replace these good gaskets with new ones and torque them down. Make sure she runs and then do a compression check. Or is it now obvious that I should simply replace the head gaskets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Try the trick where you put 100 psi in each cylinder (one at a time of course) and look in the Radiator for bubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 It would have been nice, but my intake manifold gaskets looked pretty good. I didn't take any photos, but there is little reason to think my coolant is leaking into the oil pan by way of the intake manifold. Head gaskets are certainly on the table, but what else is there? Cracked block? Plan is to replace these good gaskets with new ones and torque them down. Make sure she runs and then do a compression check. Or is it now obvious that I should simply replace the head gaskets? Heads are deiffinately coming off at this stage. When you take them off look for signs of leaking head gasket. If there are no obvious signs of gasket failure then you would do well to have the heads checked. Dirk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 What are the possibilities besides head gasket? If it were a head gasket, how can the performance be this good? Wouldn't it dog down? Wouldn't it overheat? Starts and runs perfectly. Symptoms vary. Your situation is quite common for HG failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 Well, with the help of a friend, I have the engine out and on the bench. Actually I have two engines to work with, engine A just out and engine B from a junk yard. Plan is to check compression on each engine, and then pull the heads. I don't know what to look for other than hopefully see where engine A head gasket is bad. Will post compression findings. How does one check the crank shaft bearings, etc. How do you know how far to go once you start? PS I do want to grab the hitachi intake manifold from engine B and fit it with a Weber 32/36 DGV. I am looking for one, also the adaptor and air clearner etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81EA81 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Dont forget about the freeze plugs in the head. I thought I blew up my first subie, turned out to be a popped freeze plug. Just an Idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virrdog Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Dont forget about the freeze plugs in the head. I thought I blew up my first subie, turned out to be a popped freeze plug. Just an Idea What happened, not enough coolant, just running water in the winter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Compression 1: 90 2: 102 3: 38 4: 118 See photos of cylinder 3 headgasket, piston, cyl wall. I see a possible leakage path between the water channel and the cylinder itself. This explains the water in oil but no oil in water, correct? I need advice on how far to break down this engine now that it is on the stand. How does one evaluate? Do the compression numbers say anything about the engine in general? Should I have a valve job or just replace the head gasket and be done with it. The clutch has about 100K on it but it doesn't slip. I am still looking for a Weber DVG 32/38. I don't want to bolt that single barrel back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 my advice is: Fix HG first. Then work on carb and other parts. If you do too many things at once then you will be chasing problems you don't know where they come from. One thing at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Should I take the heads to the machine shop for evaluation? Also, I noticed a lot of stop leak gunk in the block water channels. How can I get that out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Have the heads surfaced. But they look pretty good. I don't even see any "BTV" cracks. Don't do a "valve job" unless you are gonna put new rings and bearings in the bottom end. I would be tempted to split the case and do just that actually. EA81's are so easy. If you do that, do the rings, crank and rod bearings, and a valve lap with new seals. IF you are gonna just do the HG's then simply resurface the heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virrdog Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I need advice on how far to break down this engine now that it is on the stand. How does one evaluate? Do the compression numbers say anything about the engine in general? Should I have a valve job or just replace the head gasket and be done with it. The clutch has about 100K on it but it doesn't slip. From what I understand, you should be able to just replace the headgasket. The cylinder would not pressurize because the air could sneak into the coolant passages. Personally, I would replace the clutch while it's out. And check the input shaft snout for grooves, they make a sleeve out of harder metal that covers it. Then a slightly bigger throw-out bearing will ride on it. It fixes the "catchiness" of the clutch pedal motion if the snout starts to groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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